Cruisin for Critters

If you like the freedom of motorcycle riding and feeling the wind in your hair, then get that bike out on the road for Saturday’s fifth annual “Cruising for Critters” poker run.

The ride starts at 10 a.m. Saturday from the AAA office in Spring Hill, located at 1410 Pinehurst Drive, on the corner of U.S. 19 and Spring Hill Drive. All motorcyclists are welcome. And if you’ve got a sidecar, feel free to bring your four-legged best friend on the ride, too.

The cruise will take riders to checkpoints in Brooksville and Homosassa before ending at R Beach Restaurant in Hernando Beach. At each checkpoint, riders will draw a playing card. Prizes will be awarded for the best and worst poker hand at the end of ride.

Registration for the poker run starts at 9 a.m. Saturday, where a free breakfast will be provided by Chick-fil-A of Brooksville. Participants will purchase scorecards for $12 each or 3 for $24, all benefiting the Humane Society of the Nature Coast.

The first 250 scorecards purchased also will be eligible for a chance to win a $5,000 AAA vacation.

Event coordinator Trina Bowden founded the event as a way to help the animals in our community.

“My husband and I had just started riding motorcycles at the time, and we are both big animal lovers,” she said. “I had wanted to get involved with helping the Humane Society for quite some time. I just wasn’t sure how to go about it.

“We already had a “full house” so adopting wasn’t an option, and I knew if I volunteered at the shelter I would want to take them all home. So Cruising for Critters sounded like the perfect way to get involved and make a difference for the animals.